Bred to Kill

Starred review from November 3, 2014
French author Thilliez’s exceptional thriller, a sequel to 2012’s Syndrome E, poses a chilling question: what if a “violence gene” passed down from prehistoric man has concealed itself in human DNA and periodically churns out a serial killer or another person capable of extraordinary brutality? The action is again set in and around Paris, where doctoral researcher Eva Louts is found dead inside
a gorilla cage at a primate research center. Homicide inspector Franck Sharko and former detective Lucie Henebelle—both haunted by past personal tragedies—quickly determine that Louts had recently been researching violent criminals who all
had an identical set of characteristics: left-handedness, lactose intolerance, and
a mother who died in childbirth. Also tied into the case are the recent theft of
a 42,000-year-old Cro-Magnon mummy and the existence of a primitive jungle tribe that lives deep within Brazil’s Amazon region. Aside from the occasional
genetics lecture that slows the action, this shines as a thought-provoking, brilliant piece of speculative fiction. Thilliez plumbs humanity’s dark side without relying on familiar conventions of plot and character. Agent: Aurélie Laure, Univers Poche.

November 15, 2014
Paris-based Inspector Sharko and Lille police detective Lucie Henebelle, both shadows of their former selves following the abduction of the latter's twin daughters at the end of Syndrome E (2012), reunite to investigate a bizarre series of genetically engineered murders.One of the twins is doing fine, but the other one is still missing and almost certainly dead. Single mom Lucie has quit the police force, but every time she hears a report of an unidentified child's body, she races off in mortal fear to see if it's hers. The psychologically rumpled Sharko, who had to be medicated for hallucinations and unwanted sounds in his head before the tragedy, trudges through his paces as a demoted homicide cop whose superior has it in for him. After the twins' abductor is found dead in his jail cell, having ripped an artery in his throat with his bare hands, a connection is made between him and a female graduate student who was murdered in a primate research lab. Further ties are made between the abductor, who had a penchant for drawing things upside down, and a perfectly preserved Cro-Magnon man who left behind evidence of the same rare ability. Ultimately, a trip to the Amazon jungle is required to put all the pieces of the unsettling case together. This is the second of Thilliez's novels to be translated into English (Sharko and Henebelle each has a series in French). Like Syndrome E, in which video images cause terrible harm to those who view them, the sequel is lifted by the author's command of the sciences. Paleontology has rarely been this exciting.French author Thilliez's follow-up to his international hit Syndrome E is nearly as good, leaving us eager to have the rest of his efforts released in the U.S.

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November 1, 2014
This thriller, translated from the French, is in the European manner: thoughtful, intricate, and moving with a slowness that verges at times on the ponderous. The damaged noir heroes are here, and the author tends to trowel it on. Inspector Sharko of the Paris police is just out of the asylum, where he spent time after his wife and daughter were murdered. His former colleague Lucie Henebelle left the force after her two daughters were kidnapped by a killer. To add to the misery, Sharko and Lucie share some blame for what happened to the girls. The two are thrown together to investigate the murder of an anthropologist and sense the key is her work in genetics. Here's where readers after only entertainment will feel they're getting more than they wanted of genomes, preeclampsia, and retroviruses. Anyone who can enjoyor endurethese disquisitions will be rewarded with fine, brooding scenes of menace and mystery; interludes of dazzling police work; and a chilling afterthought: What are these scientist folks in their white coats really up to?(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)